- Battles N9tr Budget Deficit, N7.8tr In New Borrowings
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
The Matrix reports that the MTEF-FSP is a set of assumptions that will be used to prepare the country’s budget over the next three years.
The document, which was agreed by President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet before going to the House of Representatives for approval, expects the naira currency to be around N700/$1 next year before firming slightly in 2025 and 2026.
The House also approved a benchmark oil price of $73.96, $73.76 and $69.90 per barrel, daily crude oil production of 1.78 Mbpd, 1.80 Mbpd, and 1.81 Mbpd, for 2024, 2025, and 2026 respectively.
The green chamber also approved exchange rates of N700, N665.61 and N669.79 to $1 proposed by the executive for the period: 2024 – 2026.
The lower chamber proposed the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates at 3.76%, 4.22%, and 4.78% during the years 2024, 2025, and 2026 with an inflation rate of 21.40% in 2024, 20.30% in 2025, and 18.60% in 2026.
The MTEF/FSP document’s ancillary parameters for 2024–2026 were maintained as follows:
a) FGN recommended spending N26 trillion, with N16.9 trillion in retained revenue.
(b) A N9 trillion budget deficit.
(c) N7.8 trillion in new borrowings.
(d) N1.3 trillion worth of statutory transfers.
(e) An estimated n8.2 trillion in debt service.
(f) N243.6 billion in the sinking fund.
(g) N1.27 trillion in pension, gratuity, and retiree benefits.
(h) Total recurrent (non-debt) of N10.2 trillion; personnel costs (mdas) of N4.49 trillion; capital expenditure (exclusive of transfers) of N5.9 trillion.
In addition, the House’s committees on debt management, loans, and finance recommended winding up and deregistering the subsidiaries of the Nigerian Postal (NIPOST) Service as soon as it was determined that they were irregular and unlawful.
The House also ordered an investigation into the possible mismanagement of the NIPOST restructuring and recapitalization plan, which would involve the return of the N10 billion that the Ministry of Finance had set aside for the project.
They further stated that no tax waiver should be issued unless it is directly related to a non-governmental or non-profit organization, and that the appropriate House committee should investigate all tax waivers that have been granted since 2015 forward.
